Spa Night Essentials

This post has been a long time coming! It's that point in my life where I feel as if I should be taking just one day off each week to pamper myself and restore my "beauty homeostasis" as I call it. Pretty much, take the morning or evening off to treat myself to a nice mani/pedi, take a long hot shower, lather on tons of body butter, relax with a face mask, bleach my face, the works. Unfortunately, my days are so incredibly busy that I often forget to have a spa night. However, I had last Friday afternoon off and decided to have a little "spa morning". And boy, was it relaxing! I felt so relaxed, groomed, hygienic, and scratched off a lot of beauty things I had wanted to get done like shaving my legs and finally giving myself a pedicure! 

So, I will be trying extra extra hard this summer to take one afternoon or evening off each week to pamper myself to a home spa. To really enforce this habit, I even made a little "spa night essentials tub" full of the products I want to use for spa days.



Doesn't have everything I mention below, but most things for a great spa night. I'm thinking of putting the tub in my bathroom since most of these products are bath products. These are the things I used for my spa night Friday and I think I got a good batch of stuff! Here's my routine below:

First things first, I hopped in the shower. Nothing relieves stress for me like a nice long hot shower. I used my Bath & Body Works Shower Gel in Rome Honeysuckle Amore with a loofah for exfoliation. I would actually like to start using the BBW Aromatherapy shower gels for future spa nights since they smell so incredible and the scent is so much more potent than the regular shower gels. My favorite Aromatherapy shower gel is the sandalwood rose one, which is so incredibly soothing! I also applied some of my Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash  on my chest and back to zap some of the zits there. I know, gross, but I've found that since I've started working out more regularly, I tend to get more acne around my cleavage area and my back so I've been using a salicylic acid body wash to help clear them. To treat myself a little bit more and finish up my bath, I lathered on my LUSH Neon Love Soap that I had gotten back in February. Oh my it smells SO good in the shower but definitely not worth the $5 I paid for the little sliver since it barely left any scent once I hopped out of the shower. I also used the Bare Foot Lemon & Sage Foot Scrub all over my feet, focusing on the heel area, to soften and clean them. To finish things up, I washed my hair with my regular Pantene shampoo and conditioner, washed my face with my new favorite St. Ives Even & Bright Pink Lemon and Mandarin Orange Scrub, and shaved my legs with the Skintimate Shaving Gel in Flirty Mango. So citrusy! I may start applying a hair mask, but I don't have one at the moment. Organix makes some good hair masks, so I may try another one out for next spa night.

Once I got out of the shower, I put some of my favorite body butter, the Lavanila Body Butter in Pure Vanilla all over my legs. I don't put any lotion over my torso or arms because the BBW shower gels are moisturizing enough for those areas. Now, I think for future spa nights I may try and bleach my face before I apply any lotion or makeup. It's hard for me to find a time to bleach my face, so I think combining it with spa night may work nicely. Either that or applying a face mask on days where I don't have to bleach (I just bought some little sample pods of the Origins charcoal mask that I'm probably going to try next!). For moisturizing my face, I used my Aveeno Smart Essentials Nighttime Moisturizer. Even though it was the afternoon, I used my evening moisturizer because it is more hydrating than the daytime version. Plus, my foundation has SPF in it, so it wasn't a huge deal.  For a little acne control, I applied the Murad Acne Spot Fast Fix, which is great because it dries completely clear. Finished up with some LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub followed by Nivea Olive Oil & Lemon Lip Balm to moisturize my lips.

Next for some much needed relaxation! I first lit my new Bath & Body Works Mason Jar Candle in Lilac Blossom. Smells so good once the top wax pool layer is melted! Excellent springtime candle. I watched some YouTube videos while I was doing other stuff, but normally I just listen to my chillout playlist on iTunes or turn on the Colbie Caillat Pandora radio station. After relaxing and watching some videos with a nice cup of Celestial Seasonings Peppermint Herbal Tea, I decided it was finally time to pamper my feet! I massaged in a foot lotion all over my feet and then put on a pair of warm fuzzy socks so the lotion could soak in. I left the socks on for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, I decided to paint my fingernails. I first used some of my Rosebud Perfume Company Rosebud Salve around my nails and cuticles to soften and moisturize them. Since it's officially summer and I've been craving neon nails, I applied Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nailpolish in Sunkissed (bright mandarin orange) with NYC Extra Shiny Topcoat. Then I went back to my feet. My oh my, when I took the socks off my feet were smooth as a baby's butt! Loving the scrub + lotion regime on the feet! Anyway, once the socks were off, I popped in some toe separators and applied a few coats of Revlon Colorstay Nailpolish in Delicious (bright red).  I may do a separate, more detailed mani/pedi routine blogpost in the future, but for now just suffice it to say that the results were amazing! Three days later, and my feet are still super soft and my feet look great in flip-flops!

That is it for last week's spa night! Hope I can keep up the routine and take some time off each week to pamper and groom myself, preferably on a Sunday evening as a way to detox and unwind after a harsh week. You feel so much more energized, ready, and re-charged to start another crazy rough week, which makes your work performance soar and boosts up your confidence. As you can tell, I'm absolutely obsessed with home spa nights at the moment, haha.

Here is a recap of all the products mentioned: 
Bath & Body Works Shower Gel in Rome Honeysuckle Amore
Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash 
LUSH Neon Love Soap
Bare Foot Lemon & Sage Foot Scrub
St. Ives Even & Bright Pink Lemon and Mandarin Orange Scrub
Skintimate Shaving Gel in Flirty Mango
Organix Quenched Sea Mineral Moisture Surge Treatment
Lavanila Body Butter in Pure Vanilla
Sally Hansen Creme Hair Bleach
Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask
Aveeno Smart Essentials Nighttime Moisturizer
Murad Acne Spot Fast Fix
LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub
Nivea Olive Oil & Lemon Lip Balm
Bath & Body Works Mason Jar Candle in Lilac Blossom
Celestial Seasonings Peppermint Herbal Tea
Rosebud Perfume Company Rosebud Salve
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nailpolish in Sunkissed
NYC Extra Shiny Topcoat
Revlon Colorstay Nailpolish in Delicious

June: New Years Resolution Update

I wanted to do a life update post today but instead of just rambling on, I figured I would shape this post around my New Year's resolutions and how I'm doing with them.
In a nutshell: not exactly the place I want to be at, sadly.
But that's okay! Because life is all about improving yourself and I'm not going to give up just because I have had a few setbacks this year. By far, the number 1 thing getting in the way of my goals has been Step 1. I know that's a really crappy excuse, but that test and prep period literally drove me crazy. Let's just not even go there. It was by far the worst period of my life and will probably end up being a lifelong regret because I wish I had studied harder and did better on Step 1. But I didn't fail and my dream isn't over so that's what really matters!

#1 Weighing 125 pounds
It's taken a lot of courage for me to even talk about this in a post because my weight is the most out of control part of my life right now. Instead of losing weight, I actually gained weight during my study period. I don't even want to know how much I weigh right now because I will probably have a panic attack if I see the exact number. But let's just say that all of my clothes have become tighter. Very very hard to suck it in and admit it, but I need to really buck up and turn the scale in the opposite direction. I could go on about how I gained all this weight but that would just be counterintuitive and put a lot of negativity in this post. Let's just say that it happened and I am trying my very hardest to take restorative steps towards improving it. I don't want to get too much into it because I am just starting my weight loss regime ALL over again, which kind of really sucks, but I will do some updated posts in the future.

#2 Capturing moments
I have been pretty good about this! I haven't had the greatest social life due to Step 1, but every moment I spend with friends and family, I try to capture. I even took a photo when I hung out with my best friends from college a few weeks ago for my birthday, which will definitely end up in a scrapbook!

#3 Keeping up with friends
Again, something that's been going relatively well. I try to keep up with my friends as much as possible, but I could always do a better job at it. For example, I don't see a lot of my old friends and I usually hangout my current med school friends and a few old friends here and there. I need to spend a bit more time talking to my undergraduate friends because I really feel like I'm losing touch with them. Don't know what I can do, since they all seem to be busy with their lives, but I am trying and will hopefully try to meet up with them sometime this year, maybe during my research month. My social life is something that I am always trying to work hard on, but is sometimes really hard to manage because everyone's at different points in their lives right now.

#4 Processed foods, refined sugars
Kinda going along #1, Step 1 killed this goal. But I am trying to get back into the swing of things and will update this blog as I keep trying new things out. Just went grocery shopping, though and most of my cart was natural stuff. Lots of fruits, veggies, protein, and healthy snacking. Also cleaned up my Pinterest and I'm excited to try new and healthy recipes soon.

#5 Sleeping
Yes! Doing well! I've recently started to get up between 5-7am depending on what I have to do that day and working out before going to work. So far (in the past 4 days I mean), I have been kicking butt at this! It's hard to wake myself up that early, but I've been treating myself to coffee from either Starbucks or Dunkin every morning I wake up early and workout, and it's working! I definitely love the way my mind feels after a morning workout and not having to exercise after a long, hard day at work. Also love seeing the beautiful morning sky and listening to the news on my way to the gym early in the morning. Just really relaxing for me, minus getting my brain up that early. Hopefully I can keep it up and shed those pounds!

#6 Credit card bills < $300/month
Ahhhhh, definitely not going well but I am working on it! I'm trying to shop less and eat more at home this month, so we shall see how well that goes when I get my bill at the end of the month :)

Spring Beauty, Fashion, Food Favorites! ♥

Since I skipped my April favorites, I have a lottttt of beauty products I've been wanting to talk about this month! Plus, I have a few non-beauty favorites (like FOOOOOD) and some fashion-y stuff (who would've thunk!?!?!) to share too. Overall, there have been some great new products out this spring, much more than I've shown here. As always, I wish I could raid the entire drugstore/Ulta/Sephora racks for every single amazing beauty product out this season, but my wallet just isn't that big sadly :(
Anyway, without further rambling, my favorites for this season!

St. Ives Even & Bright Pink Lemon and Mandarin Orange Scrub

Photo credit = www.makeupandbeauty.com

A great new scrub I found in Target a few months ago! I love the St. Ives face scrubs, but the scrubby beads are usually really large and rough, so I can only use it 1-2x a week to prevent my face to get red and irritated. However, I was really excited when I saw a bunch of new St. Ives scrubs, and a few of them have really fine, small, less scratchy beads in really fresh scents! So I picked up this scent for the spring and summertime and boy is it a refreshing treat when I'm washing my face in the morning. And the best part is that I can use it every other day or even every day since the beads aren't as irritating to my face as the original St. Ives scrubs.

Bath & Body Works Shower Gel in Rome Honeysuckle Amore

I change up my shower gel every month and don't really mention them in my faves because they're just plain old body washes and I usually really like them, but not to the point where I have to mention them every month. BUT, this month I have absolutely fallen in LOVE with this shower gel. It's one of the few BBW shower gels that leave a scent lingering the whole day after I shower. It smells like flowers and it's soooo perfect for this season. Makes showering a definite treat. Plus, I love the hot pink color and how it stands out in my shower. Hoping that they didn't discontinue it so I can pick up a few more bottles for next year.

Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat Leave-In Conditioner

Photo credit = www.athunderheart.com

So this product is one of those hair products everyone and their mother raves about. It's been around for a long time, but the $20 price tag has always scared me away. But, sometime in April, Ulta had all of the Sexy Hair products on half off, so I was able to get this for only $10. Oh my oh my, I wish I had discovered this earlier! It makes my hair sooooo much softer, more manageable, and makes it feel healthier. It does reduce frizz a little, but I still have to use a serum after this to really get all my frizz down. I've been using this spray about once a week or when I have a special event coming up. Love the way this smells, how lightweight it is, and what a great job it does at taming my hair after a shower. Overall, love love love and I will be buying this again!

Organix Coconut Milk Anti-Breakage Serum

Photo credit = www.glesnibeautyblog.wordpress.com

I bought this product I think last June and I used to love it but stopped using it in the fall/winter because of how heavy and oily it made my hair. But, I pulled this baby out again this month because my hair has been feeling a little dry and getting unruly, so I thought maybe this serum would help moisturize my hair. Ahh don't know why I ever stopped using it! A few drops of this stuff smoothed across my strands and ends really reduces frizz and brings my hair back to life! Plus, coconut milk is really good for the hair so I'm sure it helps fortify the strands too. The only issue is that it is a heavier product and probably not good for fine hair, but if you use it sparingly on your strands while avoiding your scalp/roots and wash your hair every other day like me, you should be fine. Definitely going to be a staple hair product for me the entire summer!

BareMinerals Matte Foundation in Golden Tan

Photo credit = www.theneonleopard.com

Ah foundation. Something I've always been really resistant to wearing. Finally decided to cave in and try a BM foundation and boy I am in love. Why have I not used this before?! Evens out my skin like a dream, feels really lightweight, stays all day, and matches my skin tone perfectly. Only thing is that it is a pain to sit there buffing this stuff out, but the results are worth it. Feels like you just put on a new skin!

Physician's Formula Matte Collection Quad in Classic Nudes

Photo credit = www.wickedstarryeyes.blogspot.com

After hunting like crazy for neutral matte eyeshadows, I finally found an amazing drugstore matte eyeshadow quad! This isn't really a popular product, but it's definitely a hidden gem. The colors are SO pigmented and this quad in particular has all the perfect brown shades. Except for the whitish shade, I've been using all three on a regular basis for when I want a more natural eye look or as a transition color for my crease. In love, probably will end up getting the other matte quads from this collection eventually.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Mood Exposure

Photo credit = www.lovecharmaine.com

Another recent beauty hype. Again I was hesitant to get this blush because of the hefty price tag. I heard a lot of great things about this blush, but just paying $35 for a single pan of blush was a little over the top.  But I decided to treat myself and pick up this blush as a post-step1 gift, especially given the fact that I was stressing hardcore during that period and was just glad that the nightmare was over. I got Mood Exposure in particular because I don't have this shade in my collection. It's a gorgeous plummy-brown shade and it looks very natural on my tan complexion. All the hype about this blush is true. It lights up my complexion, makes me look fresh and awake, doubles as a highlighter-blush combo, and adds the perfect amount of color to my cheeks -- perfect for everyday, especially office-wear. Comes in a very sleek, sophisticated packaging. Super easy to blend even if you slap on a little too much and again, this color is just beautiful! Love the formula and I may just be naughty and pick up another shade!

Physician's Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blush in Natural

Photo credit = www.makeupandbeauty.com

Okay, let's be honest: the reason I got this blush was mainly the packaging. Love the little hearts and the pink container it comes in. Swirled together, you get a shimmery, light pink blush. I was a little afraid at first because the swatch looks mega shimmery, but on the cheeks it looks stunning and makes you look like you have a post-workout glow. No need for highlighter or anything else! A really gorgeous blush color for the springtime!

The Body Shop Watermelon Lip Gloss

Photo credit = www.bellabluelovesfashion.blogspot.com

I've been eying Body Shop glosses since forever. These are definitely my type of glosses: smell great, taste great, add a sheer color, lots of shine, no glitter. PERFECT. It's very appropriate for summertime since it smells and tastes exactly like watermelon. Delivers a really gorgeous sheer pink-red wash of color on my lips. More for everyday wear, not exactly for the office as it wears off easily and requires touch-ups every hour. Definitely favorite summer lip product this year!

Benefit Ultra Plush Lipgloss in Hoola

Photo credit = www.beautynerdbynight.com

This gloss is another everyday sheer lip gloss that I love for the summertime. It's a really pretty bronzey-nude lipgloss with some shimmer. It's a great gloss for the warmer months with a nice tan. Plus, the tube looks so summery! I love the Benefit Ultra Plush glosses because they are so moisturizing, smell/taste like peaches, add a ton of shine, and look amazing on the lips. I'm probably going to pick up the Coralista shade for the summertime and possibly Bella Bamba for the fall. Hope these never get discontinued because I go through about a tube every season or every other season. That's how much I apply it and love it!

Maybelline Color Elixir in Caramel Infused

Photo credit = www.makeupandbeauty.com

Now for a pigmented gloss that I have been loving this season. The Maybelline Color Elixirs are fairly new and come in a ton of shades ranging from brights to nudes to pinks to reds. I only have this shade so far and I'm in love. THE most perfect MLBB shade for me. It's almost like a gloss version of my Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle. Smells like vanilla/floral mix, so if you don't like lip products smelling perfumey, then stay away. Otherwise they make my lips feel super soft and aren't super sticky, although they last about 2-3 hours. I probably will buy a few more shades because the formula feels really nice and lasts a good chunk of time. I'm a total lip gloss junkie and I love me a gloss that feels like a gloss but lasts like a lipstick!

Revlon Parfumerie Nail Polish in African Tea Rose
Revlon Parfumerie Nail Polish in Apricot Nectar

Photo credit = www.vampyvarnish.com

My favorite new nail polishes this season! As you know, I love beauty products that smell yummy and these polishes fit the bill. Each one of them has a unique scent upon drying that is related to its shade name. So, African Tea Rose smells like roses while Apricot Nectar smells fruity. They also have a lot of shine, good staying power (not the best though!), a great applicator for really precise application, and come in a really cute bottle! Plus, the two above are absolutely stunning shades for this spring/summer season. The bottles look very boudoir-ish and ughhh I wish all nail polish bottles looked that vintage and cute! Not the best formula since it does tend to chip after a few days, but the other good qualities of these polishes make it worth the buy. Not all that expensive either, so I'm looking forward to buying a few more shades this fall/winter season. Definitely no more polishes for me this summer since I've been hoarding nail polishes like cray these past few months!

Merona Ultimate Scoopneck & V-Neck Tees

Photo credit = www.polyvore.com

I don't always feature a fashion favorite, but this month I went clothes shopping for a new office wardrobe and picked up a few little goodies. One of my favorites are the Merona basic tees. I love plain tees because they are so easy to style and can work either as casual shirts or more dressy shirts when paired with statement necklaces. I used to buy the Mossimo tees from Target, but they were so thin and flimsy and tended to get damaged easily in the washer. But I tried the Merona tees and they are SO much better! They're about the same price, but are made with a thicker material and fit a lot better on me. They come in a great range of colors and styles and I believe they're always coming up with new shades every season. They have $5 sales on them occasionally so it's great to stock up on these around holidays and such. I have 4-5 colors and cannot wait to buy some more because they are just so amazing, durable, fit great, and look very chic even as officewear!

LC Lauren Conrad Clothing Line

Photo credit = www.laurenconraddaily.blogspot.com

Another recent fashion favorite has been the LC clothing line at Kohl's. The clothing and jewelry are actually surprisingly affordable! The line's style is really similar to mine with a lot of frilly, delicate, flawy, vintage pieces. I wish I could afford every single thing from this line because everything I see I love. Not a single piece I'm like "hell no!" about. Honestly, I should just put Lauren Conrad as my favorite for this month because I love her shoe line, website, beauty/fashion style, advice, and tips as well!

Alexia Hashed Browns with Onion, Garlic, and White Pepper

Photo credit = www.heatherlikesfood.com

I love potatoes. LOVE them. My favorite "veggie" if it can even be counted as one. But, I don't like to buy fresh potatoes because I don't have time to peel them and last time I bought a bag, I had a massive fruit fly infestation in my apartment. Yuck, bad bad memories. So, I've resorted to frozen potatoes and I have been absolutely loving the Alexia brand for my potato fix. I've tried the sweet potato, crinkle cut, and hash browns from this line. I love them all but I particularly like their seasoned hash browns. They are a little unhealthy because you have to pan-fry them and can't just pop em in the toaster over like the fries. I've been making them as a Saturday morning breakfast treat for myself and nom nom they are so good with eggs or sausage on the side! It comes with seasoning already there and are still quite low in sodium (brownie points!). Love love love this brand of potatoes since they're delish, healthy, and affordable so I don't feel super guilty about my potato addiction. In fact, I wish I had more freezer space so I could have multiple bags of potatoes there for my random potato cravings :)

Whew! SO that is it for my spring favorites this year. I'm posting this on June 1st which to me is when summer begins! Time to bust out the heavy duty sunscreen, tank tops, shorts, and sunglasses! 

Makeup Brush Collection

I've been sorting through my makeup brushes over the past month or so and thought I would share my new and updated makeup brush collection. I have a lot of great makeup brushes that function beautifully, but I do have some that are terrible and needed to be tossed. I think I have a pretty complete brush collection at this point, but there are some more brushes I need to replace or buy.

Overall, I think I've purchased some great brushes over the past years and a lot of them have been with me for 3+ years now! I have a mix of high end and low end brushes and while the higher end brushes do have a better quality and bounce back into shape better after shampooing, there are some great brushes that I got for only a few bucks! However, I do find that it's easier to find cheaper, good quality eye brushes than it is to find cheaper good quality face brushes. So you'll see that most of my eye brushes are from cheaper brands like ELF while my face brushes are on the more expensive side. While I think that expensive brushes can be worth it due to the quality of the bristles, you can definitely find some great brushes at the drugstore and don't necessarily need to shell out $20 for a single brush or $200 for a Sigma brush set. 

You'll also see that I don't always use brushes for the use that they're designed for (like using my small concealer brush for my inner corner instead!). Pretty random actually! So, let's get started with ze collection deets! 

Eye Brushes -- flat shadow brushes

Sephora, Urban Decay, Up & Up, Sonia Kashuk

Sephora flat eyeshadow brush -- applying powder eyeshadow all over the lid

Urban Decay flat eyeshadow brush -- I don't normally use this brush, but it's great for applying powder eyeshadow all over the lid

Up & Up smudge brush -- my favorite brush for packing on eyeshadow all over my lid

Sonia Kashuk flat eyeshadow brush -- applying cream eyeshadows, like the Maybelline color tattoos

Eye Brushes -- crease brushes

ELF, Up & Up

ELF small crease brush -- this has become my go-to crease brush since it applies eyeshadow very precisely and is great for blending the color

Up & Up large crease brush -- applying powder eyeshadow all over my lid, but when I want a more sheer application. Also good for blending crease color into the lid color

Eye Brushes -- randoms

Up & Up, Sephora, Sonia Kashuk, Essential Tools, ELF

Up & Up angled eyeliner brush -- applying powder eyeshadow along lash line

Sephora liner brush -- applying powder eyeshadow along lash line

Sonia Kashuk small concealer brush -- applying eyeshadow to my inner corner

Essential Tools dual sided crease brush -- blending lid and crease color 

ELF eyebrow comb and brush -- brushing and combing eyebrows

 Face Brushes

Real Techniques, Sephora, ELF, ELF

Real Techniques expert face brush -- blending in mineral foundation. Works much better than the BareMinerals foundation brushes with much less fallout! 

Sephora highlight brush -- applying blush

ELF angled blush brush -- applying blush

ELF total face brush -- applying powder or blending blush. This brush does a great job at blending and applying powder, but it's quite harsh on my skin and leaves it feeling like I rubbed sandpaper all over. I'm currently on the hunt for a new, softer powder brush! 

Travel Brushes

BareMinerals

I use these two brushes either for traveling or when my other foundation or blush brushes are dirty. They are extremely soft, feel great on the skin, and can fit nicely into my makeup/gym bag if I choose to travel with them. I got these in BareMinerals makeup sets and they are similar in quality to the full-size BareMinerals brushes. 

Bath & Body Works Wallflowers

So I've gotten some new Wallflowers to add to my lil' scent collection and thought I'd sort them out by season. I love the BBW Wallflowers! They make so many pretty plugs, have a ton of great scents (you are sure to find one to fit any season or mood), and they often are on sale! The only problem is that some of them have a really strong throw and others have a really weak throw. In fact, my very first Wallflower (Cinnamon Frosting) was so strong that we had to take the scent plug out every morning so that we wouldn't have a headache! I haven't found such a strong Wallflower since, but I like me some Wallflowers that have a decent throw. Most of them last about 1 month, sometimes more. Even if there's alittle bit of fragrance left, I usually end up throwing it away and changing the scent every month.

Here is this year's Wallflower collection, sorted by month and season I plan on using them :) I absolutely CANNOT wait to use some of my fall and winter scents. I love love love warm, cozy winter/fall scents and even burn some of my Christmas candles during the summer months. Okay enough rambling. Here they are!

June -- Garden Strawberry

July -- Aloha Waikiki

August -- Sugared Lemons

September -- Cider Lane

October -- Marshmallow Fireside

November -- Frosted Gingerbread

December -- Evergreen

Summer Beauty, Fashion, & Candle Haul!

SUMMER IS ALMOST HEREEEE. Or it is here? Not sure when summer officially begins, but it sure as hell has been feeling like summer around here lately.
Spring was a total blur for me. With the crazyness of Step 1, school, election stress, etc etc I kind of lost myself and pretty much gave up on beauty, exercise, etc. So summertime right now is a really nice break for me and a chance to start fresh with my health. I have two research months before my crazy back to back core rotation run begins in September. To celebrate the end of all the spring madness (and my birthday), I went shopping! I needed a few things and of course picked up some stuff I fell in love with at the store. I decided to treat myself a little bit in the spirit of all the milestones I've hit recently and here is the cumulation. A crazy huge haul! Here goes!

Beauty 
BareMinerals Matte Foundation in Golden Tan
CoverGirl Lipslicks Smoochies Lip Gloss in Hot Stuff
CoverGirl TruBlend Fixstick Concealer in Medium Deep
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Mood Exposure
PINK Sweet n' Flirty Body Mist
Real Techniques Expert Face Brush
Revlon Colorstay Nail Enamel in Delicious
Revlon Colorstay Nail Enamel in Trade Winds
Smooth Sexy Hair Smooth & Seal Anti-Frizz & Shine Spray
The Body Shop Watermelon Lip Gloss

Fashion
Apt 9 Sleeveless Tee in Coral
Croft & Barrow Essential Solid Tee in Spectra Green
Croft & Borrow Classic Fit Jean
Merona Maegan Studded Flats in Cognac
Simply Vera Wang black pearl earrings

Fragrances
BBW Mason Jar Candle in Lemon Verbena
BBW Mason Jar Candle in Lilac Blossom
BBW Wallflower in Garden Strawberries
BBW Wallflower in Aloha Wakiki

Definitely excited to try all these new products out!! I'm actually really looking forward to this summer with the warm weather, the beginning of a new chapter in my life, lots of quality family & friends time, new opportunities, and taking care of myself a little bit more. I'm really hoping to do a number on my New Year's resolutions this summer so wish me luck! Will be back with updates on those soon :)

End of Step 1 Misery!

Woooo I can finally say that I've survived the Step 1 crazyness and can finally resume a normal life!
I got my score report back a couple days ago and happy to say that I passed! A lot of stuff went on right after I took the Step 1 exam, including a total mental breakdown that resulted in me skipping out on Vegas. Long story but pretty much, that was a rough part of my life.

I'm not entirely happy with my score, but I'm glad that I passed by a decent margin. I got a few points below average and unfortunately, my score is in a little bit of a danger zone. I am going to match in some residency program, but my chances of getting into a top residency program are kind of slim unless I really get my third year scores and Step 2 scores up there. I have been working hard to get good grades and I am going to start studying for Step 2 as soon as I begin my first official core rotation, which is in July. I have a little bit of a break before then, during which I want to finish up a good chunk of my research project and get aligned. I have a meeting with my advisor in a few weeks to discuss where to go after my below average Step 1 score. I'm hoping he gives me some good advice on how to do well third year, where I can realistically expect to match, etc.

So yes, quite a short post but I can't possibly start splurging everything that's gone on for the past few months. We would be here literally forever haha. The only thing I will say is that I am quite nervous because class elections are in full swing and there is quite a bit of competition for the Curriculum Committee position, which I have held for the past 2 years. I did get elected two years in a row, but I'm a little nervous because you never know what may happen and also because I got marginally voted in my first year. There is a good chance I will get re-elected, but still. I don't want to get my hopes up too high. To make things worse, this position is the only one with competition so there will only be 1 loser in the entire election. I'm really hoping that's not me because that will be super embarrassing. I'm hoping my classmates think I did a good job last year, still like me, and will re-elect me! Eeeeek! :(